"if you make a precious environment, then what's inside is precious, too."

Thursday, March 15, 2012

On The Rocks

Today, brings part three of Boyfriend's cocktail series. As mentioned in an earlier post, the series will be a combination of recipes, tips, tools and ways to build a killer bar without breaking the bank. Enjoy!

Sometimes you don’t need a fussy application or a bunch ingredients or a lot of tools. I am talking about the closest thing to old timey man drinking you can get. Whiskey on the rocks. Shots are for getting loaded, neat is for sipping and savoring, but, on the rocks is drinking enjoyment.It is simple - you only need a glass. You could spend a pretty penny for something like this but I’ll bet you have a nice sturdy glass in the cabinet. My favorite (pictured) was a going away present from one of my oldest and dearest friends. I like it because it looks great and reminds me of my homeland. I also really like reusing empty jam jars. Bonne Maman jars are the best. Once you have the glass, you need the ice. Don’t take the ice lightly. It is going to serve several functions. First, it is going to cool the whiskey. This will make the whiskey go down a lot easier. Think back to the last time you took a swig of room temp Jack Daniels at a high school party (when you were in high school, creeps). Many people don’t have the palette for room temp booze. This is totally OK. We are not in the old west and modern technology allows us to make wonderful ice at home. The secret to good rocks ice is size, shape, and clarity. 1.25” squares are a perfect size. There are plenty of ice trays on the market these days for making cocktail cubes. Buy one, they are worth it. If you want to do it up right you need very clean, flavorless cubes. This can be achieved by using distilled water or, if you’re anything like me and think buying water to make ice is silly, boil some water in a very clean pot let it sit for a couple of hours and before freezing.Now that you have the glass and the ice what do you add to make your drink complete? Whiskey. Personal preference really comes into play here. As I said earlier, neat is for sipping and savoring. For me, on the rocks eliminates any super high end spirits. I think a middle of the road blended scotch, a popular branded American whiskey or bourbon all nicely fit the bill. Still can’t not sure what to pour over your perfect ice? There are tons of middle-of-the-road brown liquors out there and tomorrow I will have a whiskey round up, sharing some of my favorites. Leave yours in the comments.